Jeremy Colangelo Looks Back on Impressive Season
Two Wins and Sunbelt Rookie of the Year Title Highlight 2008
The 2008 racing season will be a year that sticks out in Jeremy Colangelo's mind for several years to come. From winning his first career Super Late Model race to coming up a bit short for the 2008 Sunbelt Series title, all of the moments add up to a season to remember.
“All is all, the whole season was just incredible,” said Colangelo. “I feel like I have come a long way as a driver over the course of a year. I struggled on my own in the past, so to have a year like this is awesome.”
Colangelo piloted his #05 Mark Martin Performance Re/Max Chevy to victory lane on two different occasions. Both victories occurred at New Smyrna Speedway (FL), with the first of the two standing out the most in his mind.
“Our first win was very special,” said Colangelo. “I had to beat Dustin Skinner and Tim Russell for the victory, so it made it worth the wait. Skinner has been racing for years and Russell has won a bunch of championships in the last few years. Knowing that I had beaten the best made that victory standout. ”
Over the course of the season, Colangelo logged 18 top-five finishes, 25 top-10
finishes and had back-to-back runner-up
finishes at USA International Speedway (FL), which happened to be the final two races ever run at the historic oval was set to be demolished.
“It was pretty upsetting to see that track go,” said Colangelo. “The people who ran the facility were great. They always made look forward to coming back. I really enjoyed running with the guys who came down from the north to race against us at Speedfest. We always ran good there, so it's sad to see it go.”
Colangelo finished second in points as a rookie in the FASCAR Sunbelt Super Late Model Series as well as closing out the season second in the FASCAR Late Model Series standings.
“I wish we could have won the championship; we came up a little bit short. We did win Rookie of the Year honors and we had a lot of great finishes this season.”
Jeremy Colangelo will be back in full force with Mark Martin Performance in 2009 as they plan to race Super Late Models and Late Models around the Southeast.
